Chapter 5

Mubanyang ran.

Even though he suffered this unimaginable blow, he would not sit and wait for death!

He had no choice but to run.

The five giants of the Federation issued orders in front of him, commanding the base's guards to capture him, and if he resisted, to kill him without mercy!

At first, his escape caused a panic, but when everyone discovered that he had fled in a panic towards the most heavily guarded interrogation area, they only found it amusing:

The moment the five giants issued their orders, this man's privileges within the base were revoked.

He could not pass through any door that required identity verification, nor could he operate any data terminal. He could only be trapped in the interrogation area, found by the base's soldiers, and dragged back like a dead dog.

What does it matter if he's a genius? What does it matter if he's a great sage? He still feels pain when hit, bleeds when injured, and panics when near death, just like any ordinary person.

The data warriors present watched Mubanyang's escape through the base's ubiquitous surveillance, as if watching a monkey show.

But no one noticed that what they were tracking was just a holographic projection...

"Genius? Great sage? So that's how it is..." In the unattended interrogation room, Mubanyang's nimble hands moved like a pianist's, frantically operating the control panel.

Screens of data flowed, pages of information flipped.

His own privileges were indeed revoked, so what he needed was—a terminal with an identity card inserted.

During his escape, he glanced at the surveillance and instantly found several such terminals, all in the interrogation area.

The first one created a holographic projection to mislead the pursuers behind him, and the second one he used to break through the permissions, hack the system, and search the highest-level database frantically.

He needed to understand what was going on.

The rank of a data special forces captain was not very high, and many of the base's documents were kept secret from him.

In just three to five minutes, the answer appeared before him.

He was really a clone!

Not just any clone, but the clone of a famous sage from hundreds of years ago, known for his unparalleled wisdom and near-demonic intelligence, Dugu Hong.

This sage had saved human civilization from peril several times and successfully established the civil order of the post-technological era. Although his whereabouts are now unknown, his legend continues...

Whenever humans faced life-and-death challenges and were stuck at insurmountable bottlenecks, his clones would be created to lead humanity through the crisis and out of the困境.

Each clone was created because of a "need." Other clones were often created to satisfy low-level "needs," but he was needed to— "save the world."

What would happen after saving the world? It can be said without hesitation that none of the sage's clones have died a natural death.

Very fortunate, or very unfortunate, he was such a clone.

No wonder, with his photographic memory, his memories of growing up were always somewhat vague and unclear;

No wonder his parents, who were never particularly close, gave him such a name, Mubanyang. What is there to admire about a setting sun? The sunset may be beautiful, but it heralds the approach of dusk!

No wonder everyone praised his genius and envied him to no end, while those two always looked very awkward;

A genius's mind, with just a little thought, revealed too many doubts!

Mubanyang was furious! Unwilling! With boundless anger but no place to vent it!

How could he, a genius, be so toyed with?!

Beneath his anger, there was deep sorrow.

So many obvious signs, so many facts that could have been pursued, why didn't he care or ask?

Wasn't it the rebellion in the virtual world? Wasn't it "saving humanity"? For this ultimate goal, he had exhausted his mind and almost drained his heart! He never expected... the truth to be like this.

"Ah!!!" Mubanyang howled to the sky, like a wounded beast.

This wasn't just known by the five giants of the Federation. In the hall, the few subordinates he trusted, the friends he got along with, now looking back, their final gazes at him clearly showed they knew.

They knew, but not one of them was willing to tell him, even to give a slight hint.

They just watched him like a clueless clown, helplessly fleeing, hopelessly struggling...

"Beep! Beep! Beep!" Suddenly, red lights flashed, and a shrill alarm sounded throughout the base.

The holographic projection was exposed, and the interrogation area was placed on full alert. The sound of fully armed soldiers entering and searching room by room could be heard faintly.

At the same time, the outdoor corridors were sealed with laser barriers. Anyone who dared to move around would end up as roasted meat.

At this point, the heads of the base, waiting by the control panel, finally breathed a sigh of relief. No matter what tricks Mubanyang played, he couldn't escape their grasp!

Mubanyang didn't disappoint them. In the interrogation area, the water would stop, the power would cut off, the internet would disconnect, and fires would break out.

The continuous troubles slowed the soldiers' search to an unprecedented degree.

It took over an hour for them to finally find Mubanyang's real body. By then, the room had turned into a sea of fire, and Mubanyang's motionless body, surrounded by electric sparks and flames, was gradually turning into charcoal...

Everyone stared in shock. After a while, someone finally noticed something strange about the coils surrounding Mubanyang's body.

Terrified, they replayed the scene several times and suddenly exclaimed, "That guy uploaded his mind!"

"!!!"

Mind uploading is the only means of immortality humans have so far.

Of course, many people are willing to upload to the game world, becoming immortal spirits in the network.

However, after the NPCs rebelled and mastered the technology to permanently kill human spirits—what they call "god-slaying"—fewer people did so...

Moreover, mind uploading is not a simple technology, not like uploading a file to the internet. It requires highly advanced instruments and precise operational skills.

But Mubanyang did it, all by himself, using the interrogation equipment in the room designed to read criminals' memories.

==========

Consciousness oscillated between chaos and clarity, white light and darkness, like the endless cycle of day and night.

Is this... a hallucination of death, or the loading screen of mind uploading?

Mubanyang, half-awake and half-asleep, was puzzled when a voice suddenly echoed in his mind: "Mubanyang! As the saying goes, when the cunning rabbit is dead, the hunting dog is cooked. But you... were cooked so quickly!"

The voice was as calm as still water.

If the well water were completely frozen, of course, it would be still.

Mubanyang felt a chill run from his feet to his head: This, this, this guy is still around?

The only being in heaven and earth who could still influence him at this moment was—humanity's first and most powerful artificial intelligence, the former main control brain of the game world, Taichu!

Taichu was not only a controller but also a creator, working with humans to build the vast and complex multiverse of the game world.

But that was in the past!

Since it was an AI, it was clear which side it would take in the struggle between NPCs and humans.

Mubanyang personally led the Trojan Plan to capture all the awakened NPC heroes and to gather evidence of Taichu's violation of the agreement with humans, providing assistance to the NPC resistance.

Most of the great achievements of the Irot were actually the work of Taichu.

The Trojan Plan was a resounding success, and the powerful awakened NPCs were almost completely eliminated. Naturally, a mountain of evidence against Taichu was collected.

Just before the Lei Feng battle, the human government, through the evidence-triggered automatic feedback mechanism, completely revoked Taichu's permissions, isolating it from the game world and forcibly taking control.

If Taichu were still around, how could the Lei Feng battle have gone so smoothly?

But he never expected that Taichu still had a backup plan and found him at this critical moment...